


Those videos helped us get here

by fineeyes



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-11
Updated: 2013-05-11
Packaged: 2017-12-11 14:03:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/799545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fineeyes/pseuds/fineeyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At 16 years old, Anne Darcy, daughter of Lizzie Bennet and William Darcy came across an old youtube channel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Those videos helped us get here

**Author's Note:**

> Basically I really wanted to write but I wasn't too sure about this, also first time on here and first time at fic so may not be the greatest quality in any respect. But I enjoyed writing it!

Anne Darcy shut the front door behind her. She walked into the kitchen to find something worth eating - tennis practice always took it out of her. Finding a bar of chocolate, she grabbed it and turned to survey the kitchen, catching her reflection in the french doors leading outside.

She was tall, like her Father, already at 16 years old she was two inches taller than her mother. She had inherited the piercing blue eyes from her Father also, apart from that she was the image of her mom. Including the “famous Bennet hair” as the shade of red was known as amongst all her family.

She felt her phone vibrate fished it out of her pocket. A text appeared on the screen from her Mom reading: “Anne, I’ve taken James for his eye appointment, it may take a while seeing as it’s his first one. Your Dad said he would be home at half 3 which should be a similar time to us. William is staying at a friend’s tonight. Love you, talk later.”

She tapped out a reply and checked the time - just past 3. She turned and left the kitchen dragging her school bag and tennis kit upstairs to her room. She put her bags neatly by the door and flopped onto her bed. Anne closed her eyes and sighed. “I have half an hours peace.” She thought to herself. She loved her family. That went without a doubt. She loved her 6 year old brother James, who would follow her Dad everywhere. She loved William, her 11 year old brother who was always looking for something to do involving adventures. Her Dad, who she would always look after her. And of course her Mom, who she could talk to about anything. She always felt that closeness to her Mom, and she was truly grateful for everyone in her family. Her aunts, her uncles, her grandparents and her cousins. It felt like such a tight-knit family and she was always thankful for that

She pulled her laptop onto her bed and turned it on. She deserved some time to relax surely? She clicked on YouTube to find some videos to settle in and watch, flicking through her subscriptions, nothing in particular catching her eye. So instead she clicked on an old vlog from one of her favorite channels. And decided to pass the time watching the old ones, they were always claimed to be the best right?

Going though one video after another, by choosing ones at random from the suggestions bar. After about half an hour of this she stopped at the suggestions. A video, from a completely different channel had came up. The title “My Name is Lizzie Bennet - Ep:1” sent shock through Anne's body. That couldn’t be, could it? Anne almost laughed at the idea. Her Mom, Lizzie Bennet, kept Bennet for her business she had always said. But Bennet was a common name was it not? Wouldn’t it be easy enough to coincidentally have the first name too? But then, the woman in the thumbnail looked eerily familiar and also seemed to have the “Famous Bennet hair.” And in a mix of curiosity and disbelief, she followed the link.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune… Must be in want of a wife.” Anne paused the video after the first line. She could no way deny the similarities between the red-haired woman on her laptop screen and her Mother. The on screen woman was a younger version of her, there was no way of denying that. The voice helped to prove this, having the same tone as Anne had known her Mother’s voice to possess. She was shocked by the number of views on the video, was her Mother really that popular? The subscriber and view count seemed to say so. And 110 videos on her channel? Her curiosity and confusion growing larger by the second she pressed play once again.

She watched with fascination as she watched her mother at 24 years old. With no idea what was going to happen many years later. She smiled as she saw the familiar face of Charlotte, a friend so close to her Mom and also the rest of the family. She almost burst out laughing at the imitations they did of her beloved grandparents and loving the outrageous costumes they wore for them. She smiled as she saw someone else come into the video, also with the “Bennet hair.” She smiled as she watched her aunt on screen. After the video came to a end she leaned back. Why hadn’t anyone in her family talked about this? It seemed to be pretty popular back then, so why hadn’t it come up at family gatherings?

She followed the link to the second video, “My Sisters: Problematic to Practically Perfect - Ep: 2” She smiled once again as another one of her Aunts made an appearance on screen. Jane, looking nervous as she sat in front of the camera, even then she was smiling and helping her Mother. Just like she was now.

Just as the second video was coming to an end, she heard a shout from downstairs “Anne? We’re back!” She got off her bed and quickly went down the stairs. Finding her family in the kitchen making tea. She hugged her Mom and Dad and put her hand out to her brother James, who looked confusedly at the outstretched hand until slowly high-fiving it and giving a small smile.

She picked up on the conversation between her parents -

“They said his eyesight would be in need of glasses, if he didn’t look like you enough, he certainly will now.” Her mother smiled to herself as she said it.

“Well, at least it was caught now, not any later.” Her Dad, who was sitting next to James tussled the small boy’s hair which made James smile and give a quiet laugh.

Anne's mind slowly drifted away form the conversation her parents were having back to the videos. She had to find out more about them and that would mean asking her parents. It's not like they could have deep dark secrets in the videos could they? They wouldn't be on YouTube if there were! However her attention was snapped away from her thoughts by her Mom again by saying: “Anne, do you think you could help your Dad with dinner? He sometimes could do with the help, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.” Smiling at her husband as she said it, Anne watched her Mom reach for James’ hand and leave the room with him.

Her Dad immediately got up and retrieved an array of food to prepare from the fridge. He was never one for wasting time thought Anne, as she neared to the counter her Dad was also at. He passed her some vegetables to use in a salad as he started to prepare some chicken.

Anne started washing some of the lettuce leaves under the tap, the videos still playing on her mind. Her Dad would certainly know about them wouldn’t he? She wanted to know more about these videos and he would be a good place to start right?

“Dad?”

“Yes Anne?” He glanced at her to show he was listening and then focused his eyes back on the chicken.

“I was just on my laptop while you were out still, on YouTube, and I uh, found this video by the user “Lizzie Bennet” and I watched about two videos and well, it would be pretty coincidental if that wasn’t our family right?” She looked at him slowly, waiting for a reply

She watched as her dad smiled and turned to face her. “It seems your Mother was right. She thought this would happen soon.”

“She did?” This wasn’t helping her confusion much now.

“Indeed, she has been prophesying this for months now. Am I right in guessing your slightly confused?”

Anne nodded in reply as her Father continued - “Your Mother used to have a video diary, nearly a year she recorded videos and uploaded them onto YouTube. She was quite popular actually.”

“I saw, the amount of views on the videos… And the sheer number of videos!”

“Yes well, there’s not just them, Lydia had a vlog for a while also. You can find many playlists which have all the videos in a playlist. Your Mother and her sisters always said they would let you all watch the videos if you ever came across them, so watch if you want. I’ll tell your Mother for you but I have a feeling there will be an “I told you so” for me in that conversation.”

“Ok… Well I’m interested by them. Those impersonations of Grandma and Grandad were hilarious!”

“Ah yes, well you won’t just have impersonations of them, there will be many others. I do have one piece to say to you before you watch them.”

Anne looked up to her dad, his face half serious, half smiling ever so slightly.

“In times, looking back at memories, we realize the mistakes and faults we have and made. There are many elements of those videos, which I’m sure you will understand fully soon, which people in your life are not proud of. But I will tell you this now, stick with those videos until the end, because even though there are parts which bring some shame, they were necessary for the happiness of the events still happening today.”

“I understand... I think, but I’m sure I will be fully aware after watching the videos. Thanks Dad.” Anne smiled and returned her attention back to the salad even more intrigued by the small speech her Dad just gave her.

They spent the rest of the time in comfortable silence each thinking over the last conversation until Anne heard her Mom come back into the kitchen. “James is playing in his room with some trains, he is nearly as obsessed with them as my Dad is!”

Anne laughed lightly thinking of the collection of trains that came out every Christmas at her grandparents’ house. The excitement when it was put out and set up each year came flooding back to her making her feel so grateful for her family once more.

“Well Lizzie, I think I have some news which might interest you.” Her Dad gave Anne a look and continued on. “Anne has just told me here that she has come across a few videos on youtube by the user “Lizzie Bennet” She has watched the first two episodes of the channel. Care to say anything about it?”

Lizzie looked to her and smiled before replying, “Well firstly a massive “I told you so” and secondly if you do decide to watch the rest please remember that everyone has moments they aren’t proud of, some of those moments for me just happen to be captured on video. But I hope you find them….” Her Mom paused as if looking for the right word, and then finished “…Illuminating.”

She looked confused between her Mom and Dad, who were now smiling at each other as if trying to hide their laughter. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, certain words seemed to just cause them to smile at each other secretly. Not questioning it she nodded in reply and added “I’m sure they will be interesting, but I think I’m in for a long ride, there’s a lot to get through.”

“There is, and well you can go now if you want, I’ll finish the salad for you.” She smiled as her Mom took her place and started a conversation with her Dad as Anne left the room. She ran back upstairs, she wanted to watch these videos to understand what her parents were fully talking about, not just a vague idea.

She typed into the search bar “All Lizzie Bennet related videos” and found a playlist featuring 159 videos. She definitely was in for a long night Anne thought to herself getting more comfortable, starting with the third video. She smiled to herself as Bing Lee is mentioned, had her grandmother known then what would happen a few years down the line, she would have no reason to worry she thought to herself. Thinking of her Aunt Jane, her Uncle Bing and her 2 cousins.

She smiled even more at her Dad’s first mention in the videos, cringing slightly at the idea of him being called “man-cake” and slightly confused hearing her Mother say it is an awful name, suddenly thinking of her surname.

Smiling through most of episode five at the idea of her Aunt and Uncle first meeting. But she frowned during episode six. It was confusing, hearing her Mom say all this about her Dad. She still managed to laugh and cringe at her Aunt Lydia's Bing impression. And seeing her Mom play her Dad was odd to say the least. The hat that she wore, she had seen before, it was in a cabinet in the living room, but she watched on confused through the rest of episode six and seven as she watched her Mom call her Dad an array of insults and hear of what her Dad had also called her Mom. They didn’t seem great fans of each other then, how had they ended up like they are now?

She carried on through more of the videos, through the first Question and Answers, and more of the videos. Still confused at the amount that her Mother seemed to dislike her Dad. However she laughed her way through episode 15 seeing Jane and Charlotte doing their portrayal. She could tell from there that maybe her Dad felt different to her Mom at the time? Just as the episode came to an end she was called to dinner.

She ate her dinner hurriedly and left the table as soon as she as possible, although she enjoyed her family’s company at dinner, she wanted to carry on with the videos. Waving off her parents questions about the rush by saying “It’s super important.” She was soon back to the videos again.

She watched as she saw Jane get closer to Bing and her Mom’s opinion on her future husband remain unchanged. She watched as her Mom and Jane stayed at Netherfield. She laughed and sighed as her Mom said “I feel so sorry for the poor woman who ends up stuck with that douchebag for life.”

She made noises over the adorableness that was her Aunt and Uncle on screen. And then through Lydia’s first few vlogs. And then she felt slightly weirded out seeing her Mom with someone else. This George Wickham, something about him made Anne’s neck tingle. She hated the way he was talking about her Dad, surely he wouldn’t have done something so bad as that could he? He wasn’t like that! More confusion already adding to the amount inside her.

She almost cried when she saw Jane upset after Bing randomly left. But they were happily married now? What happened there? This was confusing Anne to no end. Everything in these videos were if she was honest. But she reminded herself of what her Dad had said about sticking with them until the end and she carried on.

Soon she was watching her Mom at Collins & Collins, after making up with her friend again. She was shocked at her Mom’s almost true to life portrayal of her great Aunt. And then watched as her Mom and Dad’s paths crossed again. And then smiled as she met Fitz for the first time. She smiled as it was clear to see he was always up beat as she knew him to be.

She hid behind a pillow she she watched Fitz unknowingly being the worst wingman ever for her Dad. She was confused, this didn’t seem like her Dad at all! What was happening? Nevertheless, she continued on.

She hid behind the pillow again for ep - 59 as she watched her Mom declare her hate for her Dad. And then let out an ear-splitting yell at the “Excuse me, Lizzie.” At the end - The first appearance of her Father.

She watched episode 60 pushing the pillow to her face to cover her mouth as she let out squeals. She paused the video after her Dad’s speech letting out muffled shouts. She was feeling so many things at once. Excitement after the build up of what was happening; sorry for her Dad as he was feeling the polar opposite to her Mother at the time; cringe-worthiness as she watched her Dad say some horrible things about her Mother before declaring his love for her.

She pressed play again full of trepidation. She watched as the conversation between them filled with anger on both sides. And let out another yelp as her mother revealed her videos.

Immediately moving on through the playlist watching episode 61 as she saw the sudden change in her Dad between two videos. Watching these videos must have changed him somehow she thought to herself as she watched how he was more careful with what he said on screen and gave her the letter. “Well at least I understand the look my parents give each other each time someone says “illuminating”” She thought to herself as she waited for the next video to load.

From the next video it was clear to see the letter had changed some of the views her Mom had on him. She carried on through the playlist as her Mom returned home and was persuaded by Charlotte to reveal parts of the letter. She smiled as a different version of event came out. To Anne this did seem closer to what her Dad was like than George’s and she was definitely more inclined to believe her Father than George Wickham’s tale.

She watched as her Mom and Lydia fought which wasn’t the most pleasant video to say the least but still she persisted. Squealing as she found her Mom was about to visit Pemberley Digital, her Father’s company.

Laughing to herself as Anne saw her Aunt pretend to be a tour guide, leaving it until the end to let slip of her name. She doubled in squealing as she watched Gigi again push her brother and Anne’s Mom into the same room. At least this time with no arguments.

She found it hard to watch George Wickham appearing again in Lydia’s vlogs and wanted to shake the screen at times. She hated seeing her Aunt like this. But at the same time she couldn’t help but smile as she saw her Mom and Dad’s relationship improve from the wreck it was before. And she thought maybe this was how they got here today.

But it was all ruined by episode 84. She watched from behind the pillow once again as her Dad tried to comfort her Mom even though he had just lost the chance with her all because of George Wickham. She hated this guy, for what he did to all the people that she loved dearly.

She watched her Dad, Gigi and Fitz finally getting the site down as she also watched Lizzie, Jane and Lydia feel hopeless completely unaware of what other people were doing to help them. Anne lost count of the amount of tears that had rolled down her cheeks.

She smiled as the site stayed down and the return of Bing happened. She let out a small squeal as she saw them finally happy with each other again. They definitely deserved it; and it helped to solve the confusion of how they ended up how they are now.

She watched her Mom deal with her feelings about Anne’s Dad. Seeing her feeling even more confused after finding out it was him that got the site down. And actually calling him. She freaking called him! Anne suddenly hopeful that this was the moment that they were both waiting for. She let out the biggest sigh of disappointment as she got trolled by her own Mother. Until the end of the episode and another “Excuse me, Lizzie.” made an appearance. Once again Anne grabbed a pillow and played the the next episode.

She laughed at the awkwardness of her parents on screen again. They were so careful around each other it was unbelievable. She smiled as she watched her Dad profess his feelings once again and letting out a large squeal but at the same time cringing as she watched her parents kiss on screen. She was happy for them definitely but there was still something unusual about seeing her parents kiss so passionately on screen. She smiled through the rest of the video, the question and answers and then episode 99. They seemed so happy on screen and she knew why her parents had said stick with it to the end. She watched as the Darcy on screen was pretty much how she knew him as her Dad. Including putting everything into a calender. Cringing even more at the obvious jump cut. She smiled as she watched her parents on screen talking about the future not knowing what would happen. Her Mom not knowing how successful Longbourn Productions would be. Her Dad not knowing his future included being father to three children with his wife - Lizzie Bennet.

She smiled as she saw how Charlotte now had the job she was doing now. And smiled at how Lydia seemed after everything and how she was now with her own family. And shed even more tears as she watched her Mother sign off for the last time. That was before nearly falling off the bed as she watched her grandmother walk in on Charlotte and her Mom.

She smiled before shutting down her laptop and checking the time. It was past one in the morning. But she was desperate for a drink so she quietly padded from her room downstairs to the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water. She was walking back to her room and she walked past the living room noticing that the lights were still on. Quietly, she opened the door.

She saw her parents both still up, both reading on the sofa next to each other. They looked up as Anne walked in smiling. “I’m guessing you finished them then?” Her Mom looked at her knowingly and Anne nodded in reply sitting down slowly.

“That was definitely an eventful year. But it was an important year for everyone in our lives as you can tell from them. So what did you think of them?”

She considered her answer for a moment before replying: “I honestly don’t know how to describe it. I felt so much confusion at the start and I’m so lad that most of it is pretty much gone now. I was confused about how had your relationship changed from what is was like during most of the videos to how I have known it all my life.” Anne breathed, she wanted to say so much but she didn’t have to say it all at once, she had plenty of time.

Her Dad suddenly weighed in here “Yes well, I think personally, if we weren’t like that before, we would not be this happy now. Those events changed us and helped to improve us and now look what we have because of it? I’m grateful to those videos for helping me learn to improve my faults and also see other than my first impressions.”

“I can see that. They are definitely still relevant today. I’m glad I found them.” Anne fully smiled at her parents who were fully smiling back

She watched her Mom glance between her and her Dad before saying “I think it is safe to say that we are too.”

Anne gave them both a hug before leaving the room, once again grateful for the family she had been given.


End file.
